2012 June

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Cooking & Such with Sherry Gore

Posted on June 27, 2012 Written by Suzanne 3 Comments

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

I’m thrilled to have Sherry back on the show today. We’ll get the scoop on Cooking & Such and about Sherry’s new projects. Always a joy, you won’t want to miss the humorous and heartfelt Sherry.

Sherry will be giving away a signed copy of my her first cookbook, Taste of Pinecraft, and a copy of each released issue (3) of her new magazine, Cooking & Such: Adventures in Plain Living. Just leave a comment {HERE}. Winner will be notified next week via email.

More about Sherry: Sherry Gore is the author of Taste of Pinecraft: Glimpses of Sarasota, Florida’s Amish Culture and Kitchens. She is the editor of Cooking and Such: Adventures in Plain Living magazine and The Pinecraft Pauper and a contributing writer for the national edition of The Budget newspaper. She’s appeared in a documentary for National Geographic Channel. Sherry is the nonresistant owner of a double-barrel shotgun and has an affinity for pie. She is a member of a Beachy Amish Mennonite church and makes her home in Sarasota with her family. She learned the hard way one spring day not to wear ChapStick while driving an open buggy behind a shedding horse.

For more about Sherry, visit www.sherrygorebooks.com.

More about Cooking & Such: This quarterly magazine features simple stories of funny moments and faith-testing trials.Tastefully written by writers from Plain communities across the country, this publication is unlike any other in the world.

Photographs depicting everyday life bring readers to a slower pace in time; a place many folks yearn for.

Favorite recipes by seasoned cooks with mouth-watering photos make each issue a necessity in the kitchen and a feast for the eyes. A smorgasbord of articles and stories by writers of various ages provide wholesome reading for the entire family. Specialty dishes like 3-Layer Strawberries and Cream Cake pretty enough for a wedding make reading and cooking a treat. And who could pass up a plate of homemade Gingerbread Waffles slathered in hand-rolled butter and lavishly drizzled with maple syrup?

Treat yourself to the wisdom of Anna Miller of Mother Hen in the Kitchen, and Lovina Eicher, writer for the syndicated column, The Amish Cook. Former writer for The Pinecraft Pauper, Steven Fisher, will take you to the back forty of his family’s Pennsylvania farm in his new column, Beyond the Barn Door. Lena Yoder, author of Tastes From a Farmer’s Wife, teaches you Preserving Traditions, with recipes and recollections of butchering and canning in Topeka, Indiana. You’ll find these, and many more unforgettable stories stuffed within the pages of Cooking & Such: Adventures in Plain Living.

Filed Under: Amish Wisdom, Food 3 Comments

Forgiveness Day

Posted on June 26, 2012 Written by Suzanne 1 Comment

There’s no doubt that we all need reminders of forgiveness–both to be forgiven and to forgive. Maybe that’s why there’s Forgiveness Day on June 26, Global Forgiveness Day on August 27, and International Forgiveness Day on the first Sunday in August.

Forgiveness is far more important than we realize. There are all kinds of studies that support how essential forgiveness is for mental and physical health.

But the problem is that forgiveness is so difficult! It’s counter intuitive to our basic human nature–which is to deflect and blame.

Forgiveness takes work. It takes God’s help. Personally, I think it’s all God’s work.

So, on this day set aside to celebrate forgiveness, take a moment today and think through your life. Consider those you have have wronged, and ask those persons to forgive you. Just as important, sift through your life for any grudges you’re holding onto. Ask God for help to forgive those individuals. It isn’t a one-step process, like a light switch. It’s a continual process. Trust that forgiveness will come, and move on.

Even better…strive to make each day Forgiveness Day. Now…that’s something worth celebrating.

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).

Filed Under: Uncategorized 1 Comment

Author Spotlight: BJ Taylor

Posted on June 25, 2012 Written by Suzanne 43 Comments

Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We’ll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.

The winner from last week’s Author Spotlight with Jenny Miller is Kathie from CA ! Please email my assistant Christen with your mailing address. (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com)
This week BJ Taylor is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of her book, Charlie Bear, leave a comment on this post!

Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in?

I’m originally a Midwesterner. I moved from Wisconsin to California more than 20 years ago. I like to say you can take the girl out of the Midwest, but you can’t take the Midwest out of the girl. And that’s especially true if you’d hear me speak! My husband Roger and I have four grown children and two grandchildren. We also work together in a small business. I’m blessed to be able to write in the mornings and work at my job in the afternoons, but there have been months-long stretches where we didn’t have office help and I had to work more than eight hours a day. This recently happened at the exact time when the CHARLIE BEAR book was contracted and due. I got up at 5 a.m. every day and wrote for three hours before going into the office.

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

I love inspirational stories. And I’ve discovered I love writing about dogs. They are such a valuable part of our lives. I like to include a dog in the books I write, sometimes more than one, and sometimes a kitty or two.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

I was married and had children right out of high school, but I always wanted a college degree. Not a big one, just an Associate of Arts degree. So in the 90s I signed up for courses at a local community college. It was during that time that I chose an elective class, Creative Writing. It nurtured that love for language and the writing seed took root.

After you started writing seriously–how long was it before you were published?

Something really cool happened to me. Remember John Gray and his “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” books? I was an admirer of his philosophy, so when he sent out a query to readers for their input to be included in his upcoming book, “Mars and Venus in Love,” I submitted six single-spaced pages of thoughts. (I know now that was WAY too much, single-spaced no less—but I was a rather inexperienced writer). They loved what I wrote, published most of it, and a fledging author with a little confidence was born. BTW, there was no byline, no payment, just the accomplishment, which looked great on my writer’s resume.

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups?

I belong to three writers critique groups: two face-to-face and one online. I believe that sharing our writing with others can help to support, motivate, and encourage every member to success. There will be ups and downs, for instance non-acceptances, but the sting is not as painful when shared. And then there will be wonderful successes that are multiplied ten-fold when celebrated together. If not for my writers’ group members and our meetings, I may not have held myself accountable or accomplished all that I have in my writing career. And the funny thing is: every single member of the Sixteen Thumbs, the Marble Shapers, and the Night Writers has all been published.

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.

When B.J. Taylor first gazed at CHARLIE BEAR’s photograph, she knew right away he was the dog for her, but this rescue dog came with a long list of behavioral issues and was nearly labeled “unadoptable.” B.J. and her husband Roger often doubted their sanity after adopting Charlie Bear, but he eventually sheds his headstrong ways and becomes a loving member of the family, ultimately changing three lives forever.

What’s on the book horizon for you?

A compilation of inspirational stories published in Chicken Soup books and other markets has been pulled together into SUNNY SIDE UP: Inspiring Stories for Tough Times / Women / Dog & Cat Lovers and is available on Amazon. I am also working on novels I like to call dog-lit (Chick Lit for Dog Lovers).

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

Amazon Author Page

Direct link to CHARLIE BEAR book on Amazon

B.J. Taylor’s website

Filed Under: Author Spotlight 43 Comments

And the color is…orange | Rhonda Schrock

Posted on June 22, 2012 Written by Suzanne 3 Comments

We learned it when College Kid was seven. Now, 15 years later, we’re still playing it when we’re waiting, usually in the BMV and usually on The Mister. Here’s how it goes. The “it” person picks an object somewhere within his visual field. He (or she) will sing the little ditty above and name the color. The rest of us (The Restless Ones) search high and low, guessing, guessing, guessing all objects of that color until someone (The Lucky Guesser) names it. Then he’s it.

Little Schrock loves this game. He loves it, even though he never quite nails the words. “Riddle me me me me me,” he chirps in his high, sweet voice. “…and the color is…”

Here, he says it out, bold, eager, as he looks right at the object. The rest of us, brows furrowed, play it up. This is a tough one. What’s he picked out this time?

“Riddle me, riddle me, ree. I see something you can’t see. Riddle me, riddle me, ree, and the color is – orange.”

And it is. It’s my color for this summer. In a season of bone-deep exhaustion, in a whirl of graduation and year-end activities, it’s orange. After weeks of party planning and feeling the stress of pulling it together, pulling it off, holding it together…

The color is orange. Orange sandals. Orange scarf. Cute orange shorts and orange flowers on that sweet, new dress. It’s orange.

In the midst of physical weariness; in spite of emotional and mental exhaustion, I’m choosing orange because of what it says. It shouts life! spunk! happiness! joie de vivre! joy! All of these, even though.

Inside the cover of my brand-new, Italian leather journal I’ve written this verse: “(She) will be like a tree planted by the water. (She) does not fear when heat comes. Her leaves are always green. (She) has no worries in a year of drought. (She) never fails to bear fruit.” – Jer. 17: 7,8. On the outside of the cover, embossed in that beautiful leather, are leaves. In green.

This week, Kid Kaboom goes to Honduras. College Kid is back. We’re short one vehicle. There’s a speech to plan, a proposal to write, a website to finish, my doctor’s going nuts and people are looking for lunch. It’s orange.

It’s orange. And green. For Christ within me is life, spunk, happiness, joie de vivre, joy and the ever-green of a tree that’s planted solid, sound, by a river of living water. Even though.

Even though.

And what, I wonder, is your summer color?

###

Rhonda Schrock lives in Northern Indiana with her husband and 4 sons, ages 22, 18, 13, and 5. By day, she is a telecommuting medical transcriptionist. In the early morning hours, she flees to a local coffee shop where she pens “Grounds for Insanity,” a weekly column that appears in The Goshen News. She is an occasional guest columnist in The Hutch News. She’s also blogged professionally for her son’s school of choice, Bethel College, in addition to humor and parenting blogs, and maintains her personal blog, “The Natives are Getting Restless.” She is a writer and editor for the magazine, “Cooking & Such: Adventures in Plain Living.” She survives and thrives on prayer, mochas, and books.

Filed Under: Summer 3 Comments

Thursday on Amish Wisdom: Beverly Lewis {Win a copy of The Fiddler!}

Posted on June 20, 2012 Written by Suzanne 1 Comment

Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner.

This week on Amish Wisdom I’m featuring an encore presentation of Beverly Lewis’ interview from last fall. Listen in to hear Beverly talk about writing, her experiences with the Amish and The Rose Trilogy series.

Be sure to leave a comment {HERE} for a your chance to win a copy of Beverly’s latest release, The Fiddler!

Beverly’s stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother’s Plain heritage has inspired Beverly to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with The Shunning, which has sold more than one million copies and was recently made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie.

More about Beverly: Beverly Marie Jones (Lewis) was born in the heart of Amish country—Lancaster,Pennsylvania. At the tender age of nine, she began writing short stories and poetry. Prior to that, she made up lyrics to the “little fingers” piano pieces she learned, at the age of five.

Beverly Lewis, born in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, is The New York Times bestselling author of more than ninety books. Her stories have been published in eleven languages worldwide. A keen interest in her mother’s Plain heritage has inspired Beverly to write many Amish-related novels, beginning with The Shunning, which has sold more than one million copies and was recently made into an Original Hallmark Channel movie. In 2007 The Brethren was honored with a Christy Award. She has been interviewed by both national and international media, including Time magazine, the Associated Press, and the BBC. Beverly lives with her husband, David, in Colorado.

For more about Beverly and her books, please visit www.beverlylewis.com.

About The Fiddler:

Come home to Hickory Hollow, Pennsylvania–the beloved setting where Beverly Lewis’ celebrated Amish novels began–with new characters and new stories of drama, romance, and the ties that draw people together.

A wrong turn in a rainstorm leads Englisher Amelia Devries to Michael Hostetler–and the young Amishman’s charming Old Order community of Hickory Hollow. Despite their very different backgrounds, Amelia and Michael both feel hemmed in by the expectations of others and struggle with how to find room for their own hopes. And what first seems to be a chance encounter might just change their lives forever.

Endorsements

“Much of the credit [for the growth of Amish fiction] goes to Beverly Lewis, a Colorado author who gave birth to the genre in 1997 with The Shunning…” –Associated Press

“Author Beverly Lewis has come up with a new magic formula for producing best-selling romance novels: humility, plainness and no sex.” –Time magazine

Filed Under: Amish Wisdom, Books, Fiction 1 Comment

Bird Guy in the middle of Birdie Talk

Posted on June 20, 2012 Written by Suzanne Leave a Comment

This happened just a few days ago at the U.S. Open–it’s such a funny, odd moment! Apparently, the bird call guy is an environmentalist who wants to draw attention to deforestation. Next stop, he says, is the House of Commons. I’ll be watching…

Filed Under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment

Author Spotlight: Jenny Miller

Posted on June 18, 2012 Written by Suzanne 16 Comments

The winner from last week’s Author Spotlight with Lorena McCourtney is LEE JOLLEY! Please email my assistant Christen with your mailing address. (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com)

This week Jenny Miller is in the Spotlight! To win a copy of her book, Life is a Gift, leave a comment on this post!

Share a little bit about yourself. Married with kids? Empty nester? Do you work full-time and write when you can squeeze it in?

Married to my best friend for 14 years, and blessed with 3 little girls, Sierra, Courtney, and Brooklyn, who you’ll read about in my book. I work full time as a mommy to my girls, and yes, I write early morning while they’re still in bed, or during nap time!

And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest…

Life stories are my favorite for reading and writing, I also enjoy Christian fiction.

How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?

Creative writing was my favorite subject in school, and through the years I’ve written a lot of short stories that hardly anyone ever saw. But all the while I was dreaming of “someday”….that day when I would publish my book.

After you started writing seriously–how long was it before you were published?

Almost exactly one year. It took 3 months to write, and 9 months to have it edited/published. The 9 months were comparable in a lot of ways to pregnancy. One of my friends was sure I would go through post-partum depression when it was all over.

Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well? Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?

The most inspiring thing I can do before I sit down to write is get out in nature. Taking a walk on a beautiful day does something for my spirit that makes me want to write on paper. And always, before I sit down to write, I start with prayer. More than anything else, I want my writing to be inspired by God, and not just words I come up with.

What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups? Your mom as your first draft reader?

I was blessed to find an editor through friends of friends. I emailed her and asked if she would edit my work on a private basis, thinking I would find an publisher once it was edited. She became my best ally, and we talked on the phone for hours. She really, really wanted me to be happy with the end result. She gave me her honest opinions, but also wanted to hear mine. And she works for numerous publishing companies, and recommended several of them to me, then helped me through the entire publishing process.

And yes, my mom was my first draft reader, along with my sister and a cousin, which was very helpful. A friend advised me not to pass along my manuscript to a lot of different people, because then all you would have is a lot of different opinions! So I stuck with a few trusted people whose opinion I highly value.

Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be? (Explain your answer)

I think I may have glamorized the idea of being an author before I became one. And now that I’m here, I realize I’m still the same “me” I always was, still learning, still stumbling from time to time. But I will admit, having accomplished a life dream, with God’s help, does feel pretty amazing

What are your biggest distractions?

Well, I’d hate to call them distractions, but my husband and my girls have my first priority.

What was one of the best moments in your career and what was one of the worst?

The best? The moment the UPS man drove in my driveway with the hard copy of my book. I ran out to the little bridge across my creek, and had little worship session with tears of gratefulness.
The worst? The first publishing company that I went with ended up not working out. I had so much faith in them and it became obvious it was going to be an unworkable situation, so I pulled out. Suddenly, I had a book almost ready for print, and no publisher. We prayed hard and within a couple of weeks, we had our new publisher, and the book was in print 6 weeks later.

What do you least like about being a writer? Most like?

My favorite part of being a writer is reader response. Finding an email in my inbox from a reader makes my day. I’ve met so many new friends.

What advice would you give to new writers?

Whatever you’re writing, let it be from your HEART. You can be talented at putting words on paper creatively, but if it’s not from your heart, I won’t connect with it.

Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.

Are there situations in your life that make no sense at all…that make you wonder what God is thinking, what He’s up to? Follow me in my journey of confusion, darkness and pain as I struggle through accepting the genetic disease my daughters were born with. And come with me as I find grace, comfort and even joy as my Heavenly Father lovingly, step by aching step, teaches me important lessons about Himself and life.

What’s on the book horizon for you?

People ask me if I’m planning a sequel, and I say, “I have no idea what I would write about!” But maybe someday, a little farther down the road. At least I can dream, can’t I?

Last question, how can readers find you and your books?

My book can be found on my website, or on Amazon.com and many other places online.

Thank you for sharing your writing life with my bleaders! (blog + readers = bleaders)

Thank you, Suzanne! I’m so honored to have had the opportunity!

Filed Under: Author Spotlight 16 Comments

Podcast for Amish Wisdom: The Hutterites with Mary-Ann Kirkby

Posted on June 17, 2012 Written by Suzanne 1 Comment

Winner from this week’s show posted below!

{Mary-Ann Kirkby}

Click Here to Download Mary-Ann’s Interview

Connect with Mary-Ann: http://www.polkadotpress.ca/

Pick-up your copy of I Am Hutterite: Hardcover or Kindle

Congraulations to this week’s winner, Susan Reed! Please e-mail my assistant, Christen (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com) with your mailing address!

Filed Under: Amish Wisdom, Books, Family 1 Comment

Win an Advanced Reader Copy of The Haven!

Posted on June 16, 2012 Written by Suzanne 24 Comments

There’s nothing more valuable than a recommendation from a friend!

Would you be willing to do a few one-minute things to help spread the word about The Haven, Life with Lily and/or Amish Proverbs?

It’s easy! And impactful.

And as a thank you, you’ll be entered to win one of 50 Advanced Reader Copies of The Haven!

To be entered in the giveaway just do one or more of these 10 influencer activities (or maybe you have an idea of your own!) and fill out the short form below. Giveaway ends June 30th!

Please email Amy (amy@litfusegroup.com) if you have any questions.

Filed Under: Amish, Books, Children's Books, Fiction, Non Fiction, Writing 24 Comments

Choose Joy by Kay Warren

Posted on June 13, 2012 Written by Suzanne Leave a Comment

This week, I’ll be participating in a blog hop that gives you a chance to read selected passages from the hot-off-the-press book Choose Joy by Kay Warren, wife of Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Kay shares the path to experiencing soul-satisfying joy no matter what you’re going through. Joy is deeper than happiness, lasts longer than excitement, and is more satisfying than pleasure and thrills. Joy is richer. Fuller. And it’s far more accessible, Kay says, than you’ve thought possible.

Below is a passage about Kay’s marriage that really jumped off the page at me. I could hear myself in her words! Yikes!

Offer Nonjudgmental Love

If you’re a perfectionist with yourself, you’re probably also somebody who criticizes other people. Those two tend to go together. Because you’re not happy with yourself, you’re not happy with others.

Some of us feel duty-bound to point out to other people their imperfections. Then we expect them to be grateful for it, as if they’ll say, “Oh, thank you! I was waiting for you to tell me about that flaw today!” Even worse, we point out someone’s imperfections to other people, falling into the trap of gossip and judgment.

When we criticize someone, it has a lot more to do with our need to be critical than with their imperfections or differences. And when we are critical of another person, we are missing the beauty in them and in our relationship with them. We destroy the delicate seedling of joy that is trying to take root in their heart. In Romans 2:1, we read, “Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors” (Message).

A few years ago, Rick sat down with me and said something that sobered me up fast. He said, “Kay, I don’t think you like me.”

I said, “What? Of course I like you! What do you mean I don’t like you?”

He said, “You’re always picking on me. You criticize how my shirt is tucked in or not tucked in. You tell me whether this color goes with that color. You tell me my hair is sticking up, and you smooth it down like I’m six years old. You treat me like a child. No matter what my opinion is, you have something to say about it. You just pick at me all the time.”

My first response was, “No way! I don’t do that! I do not behave like that.”

And he said, “Yes, you really do. I know you love me, but I’m not sure you like me anymore.”

So I went back to the Lord that night and I said, “God, you’ve got to help me here. Because I have the feeling he’s right. And this is really sad and ugly.”

The Lord reminded me of this image from the Bible: “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Gal. 5:15). Then he gave me a picture of Rick as a cardboard cutout—and I was Ms. Pac-Man. I kept coming up to Rick and taking a bite out of him. Gobble, gobble. I took little pieces of him over and over. I could see that if I kept doing that, I was going to destroy him. I was going to destroy the love between us. I was going to kill our joy by this constant gobble, gobble, gobble!

Is there someone in your life you keep picking at? I’m not talking about big things. I mean little bites, constantly. The Bible says in Luke 6:37, “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier” (Message). How much clearer does Scripture have to be before we see that we kill joy when we can’t offer others nonjudgmental love?

You might be thinking, I “pick” on her because she has some major flaws and weaknesses and I know how to help her! It’s absurd to think that picking on someone—being overly critical and judgmental—will make them change, yet we do it constantly. It’s futile, my friends. I recently found this anonymous riff on Reinhold Niebuhr’s famous serenity prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me.”

Philippians 4:8 says, “Keep your thoughts on whatever is right or deserves praise: things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable” (GW).

Think of the person closest to you. How much of that person is good and worthy and acceptable and wonderful? You might say, “Ninety percent! There’s only ten percent of him that drives me crazy.” Or you might say, “Fifty-fifty. It’s hard to see the good in her sometimes.”

As you apply this Scripture, where do you think you need to put the emphasis in your thinking about that person? On the part that is irritating, frustrating, immature, and weak? Or on the part that is awesome, the part that is worthy of honor and commendation and respect? If you put all your attention on the negative, you are creating a miserable relationship.

It doesn’t matter what the percentage is. Where you put your focus and your energy is going to determine how successful that relationship is. Every relationship you and I have would improve 100 percent if we would apply this, if we would put our focus on what’s right, on what’s good, on what’s worthy of respect in that person. Yes, there’s brokenness, immaturity, things that need to change. But until we focus first on what is good, we will not know joy in that relationship.

Remember, nothing will restore joy in another person’s heart faster than the words, “I accept you as you are.”

****

Hop along with me! Here’s a list of the posts about Choose Joy you can look forward to reading from other bloggers this week:

6/14- post from Renee Swope at www.reneeswope.com.
6/15- post from Holley Gerth at www.holleygerth.com.
6/16 post from Kayla Aimee at www.kaylaaimee.com.
6/17- post from Stephanie Howell at www.stephaniehowell.com

This excerpt was reprinted with permission by Revell Books. Follow along on Kay Warren’s blog hop and check out another excerpt at Renee Swope’s blog on Thursday.

Filed Under: Faith, Family Leave a Comment